Gender Identity Curriculum in schools.

isfreak

I've recently seen on the news where Virgina is adding Gender Identity Curriculum to schools. Obviously parents are out raged because its not a choice, but I see it as a good thing. I do think Kindergarten is a little young to be starting out but I also think kids need to be educated more on their body and that it's okay to not identify as the sex you were assigned to at birth. I also think it's good for other kids to understand those who identify as gay/bi/trans/gender fluid.

I also see the side where people are going to say that it is the parent's job to educate their kids on such subjects, but I don't see parents willing to do that freely/being educated enough on the topic to do that. Plus you will have the close minded people who will drill into the kids mind how wrong it is.

I'm curious on the opinions of everyone else here, would you be okay with your kids being educated in a public school on this topic or do you think its something a parent should only teach their child?

InfraGreen

I think kids do need to learn about it, and parents generally won't teach those things.

I do hope that the curriculum edges more on "some people are trans but not conforming to masculinity or femininity doesn't make you less of a boy or girl either" rather than "your gender IS whether you conform to masculinity or femininity."

icmnfrsh

I tend to keep an open-minded but cautious approach to things, so while it sounds good in theory, I am somewhat concerned with how it's implemented/handled. It's a noble idea, but if they don't handle it well, it might cause more confusion.

Of course, I can also understand why more conservative parents don't like the idea, since their kids are being taught ideas that they don't agree with. I'm not going to say whether they're wrong or right, but I personally believe that children shouldn't be ridiculed or repressed if they don't identify with their biological sex.

isfreak

InfraGreen wrote: »

I think kids do need to learn about it, and parents generally won't teach those things.

I do hope that the curriculum edges more on "some people are trans but not conforming to masculinity or femininity doesn't make you less of a boy or girl either" rather than "your gender IS whether you conform to masculinity or femininity."

They go as far as talking about incest which i think might be a little too young for a 4th grader to understand, but I agree and I wish this was something I was taught when I was growing up. I kinda feel like if more kids get the information sooner then they will accept themselves better as they grow up.

writtenfae

I think over all, that it's a good step in the right direction. It's something children do need to learn about, and by learning about it hopefully their generation can be a little more accepting of their neighbors and those in the world. And I can see parents not teaching their kids, either because they don't know how to or because they just don't care.

Though since they still have the option to opt their child out, those that don't want their children knowing will probably just opt out and so we'll still have a section of kids that don't learn it but it'd definitely be less than before.

Knowledge has always been a good thing, when taught correctly. And that's key here too. The question is HOW are they going to teach, and what are they actually going to teach that will determine the real value of good or bad.

isfreak

writtenfae wrote: »

I think over all, that it's a good step in the right direction. It's something children do need to learn about, and by learning about it hopefully their generation can be a little more accepting of their neighbors and those in the world. And I can see parents not teaching their kids, either because they don't know how to or because they just don't care.

Though since they still have the option to opt their child out, those that don't want their children knowing will probably just opt out and so we'll still have a section of kids that don't learn it but it'd definitely be less than before.

Knowledge has always been a good thing, when taught correctly. And that's key here too. The question is HOW are they going to teach, and what are they actually going to teach that will determine the real value of good or bad.

They can't be taken out of the gay marriage/same sex talk so that is a plus. That alone will have them asking questions seeing as they are at a young age.

I would hope the school would be bringing in someone who actually knows what they are talking about, but if not lets hope the health teacher has done a lot of research and is an open minded person when it comes to information and questions.

I like how the schools aren't even being forced to teach it, they have just decided that it is now important enough to educate students on.

SilentWolf101

So, I see it as the parents are not going to teach their kids with an open mind - I never even knew what "g.a.y" was until I met somebody who was g.a.y, and he explained things to me I would never have understood. I didn't know what trans was until I read about it. I'm just now, at 16 years of age, learning about all this stuff. Had I learned it from my parents, my parents would be telling me how wrong it is and how it goes against the bible and all that plumness. (Can't curse, so I'm using plum and plumness instead). It absolutely 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 me off, so I agree completely that it should be taught in schools. I feel as if it should be taught in every school so that people would be more understanding. It just frustrates me how many people are against something they may not even understand themselves. I also would never have found out that I was, in fact, bi with a slight higher preference for men had I not learned about it from another person. Some of my very good friends are lesbian and I think that's really cool.

Of course, I'm all for choice, but if you're not going to teach your kid with an open mind and show them both sides of the argument, then you shouldn't be allowed to have the choice. You should let your child make their own decision on whether or not it is bad, not just saying "The bible says it's bad, so you better not have anything to do with it!" and be done with it. I was watching a tv show over the weekend called "The Briefcase" and it was where two families were each given 100,000 dollars and had to chose whether or not to share that money. What they didn't know what that each family was given the money, and that the families were sharing the money with each other. One family was strictly Catholic, and the other family was a man who was born a girl and getting married to a girl with several children. The only reason the Catholic family shared was for the children because they were against the guy being trans. The trans couple shared more money than the Catholic family did.

Sorry for the long story, but I have a lot of opinions on this...

InfraGreen

isfreak wrote: »

InfraGreen wrote: »

I think kids do need to learn about it, and parents generally won't teach those things.

I do hope that the curriculum edges more on "some people are trans but not conforming to masculinity or femininity doesn't make you less of a boy or girl either" rather than "your gender IS whether you conform to masculinity or femininity."

They go as far as talking about incest which i think might be a little too young for a 4th grader to understand, but I agree and I wish this was something I was taught when I was growing up. I kinda feel like if more kids get the information sooner then they will accept themselves better as they grow up.

Although incest might sound too far, I have a feeling that it's done in a way so that kid's who might be victims of it know what they can do. I guess like warnings against other dangers.

TetsuoShima

I'm still too paranoid to come out as male offline.

Simpkin

Kids don't need silly stuff like that, they need discipline.

isfreak

I've been having this conversation with people i went to school with who have disagreed with me based on the fact that "Kids shouldn't know about sex at a young age". though the argument was brought up that they will learn about it from other kids. I get that you want to protect your children but education can be so powerful not only for themselves but for the people they are around.

I can't personally understand why any parent wouldn't want their child to be fully educated on anything sex related. You have kids getting pregnant at 13 now so when is it too soon/too late to start?

skfmyers

Simpkin wrote: »

Kids don't need silly stuff like that, they need discipline.

I agree that kids definitely need discipline -- when they ostracize/shame/bully/harass non-cis-het conforming peers, but I disagree that providing children with knowledge is "silly." More than fifty per cent of transgender youth will attempt suicide before their 20th birthday. If learning that sexuality is a spectrum and not a binary can help at all with that statistic, I'm all for it.

Skyscraperfan

that would have freaked me out as a kid. its not a good idea.

SilentWolf101

So, going back and looking at the article and watching the video, I disagree with the ages, but I still agree with the decision to make it so that parents cannot opt their kids out of it. Now, some of the things the kids are learning about - Kennedy and incest, I disagree with. Now, I'm not for incest at all - in fact, I'm completely against it. But I doubt most kids are going to go around with their family members and do things with them.

EDIT: My step brother is g.a.y, and people are going to hate on him for it because they don't understand or they're religious beliefs go against it or whatever, but in all honesty he was freaking amazing. I loved him like a blood-related brother. He is happily married to somebody in the military, and he is a fire fighter helping save lives. So don't go telling me that g.a.y people are bad. Kids need to learn that majority of g.a.y people don't just go around 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 people for fun like some parents make it seem. In my school, we don't even teach about things like this, which is kind of sad to me...

Modsey

I think this is a wonderful idea. My mum explained to me what it meant to by gay but there were other parts of this big confusing cloud of sexuality I didn't understand. I didn't even find out until 8th grade that you could like boys and girls so I always believed I was straight because I'd known for ages I liked boys. Apparently I really like both.

I've also experienced my fair-share of explaining what it meant to be myself and like both boys and girls to friends who grew up in stricter or more religious houses or were just never really taught. My favorite is being asked if I just 'choose' one day when I settle down with someone.

I think gender identity education is an amazing goal and that it can make great strides in this world for gender equality

isfreak

Skyscraperfan wrote: »

that would have freaked me out as a kid. its not a good idea.

I feel like kids could handle it if you picked a good age group to start with. I'm not suggesting you start with 5-6 year olds (though some of them are already smarter then you would think). I feel like around 8-10 is a good place to at least introduce it. Not shoving it at them at once but at least learning what they know about it and teaching them about how everyone is different.

K4le8

I think that kids need to be taught at a young age that being different is okay and that different lifestyles are okay too. It is their choice to what lifestyle they want to live, not the parents.

It isn't "silly" it is life, and if you can't see that, then you have to work past some things.

Modsey

isfreak wrote: »

Skyscraperfan wrote: »

that would have freaked me out as a kid. its not a good idea.

I feel like kids could handle it if you picked a good age group to start with. I'm not suggesting you start with 5-6 year olds (though some of them are already smarter then you would think). I feel like around 8-10 is a good place to at least introduce it. Not shoving it at them at once but at least learning what they know about it and teaching them about how everyone is different.

This is a very reasonable starting point. Though, I've found that for young, young children, if you explain what it's like when a boy likes a boy or a girl likes another girl and emphasize the concept of love over the idea of sex, it's much more understandable.

isfreak

Modsey wrote: »

isfreak wrote: »

Skyscraperfan wrote: »

that would have freaked me out as a kid. its not a good idea.

I feel like kids could handle it if you picked a good age group to start with. I'm not suggesting you start with 5-6 year olds (though some of them are already smarter then you would think). I feel like around 8-10 is a good place to at least introduce it. Not shoving it at them at once but at least learning what they know about it and teaching them about how everyone is different.

This is a very reasonable starting point. Though, I've found that for young, young children, if you explain what it's like when a boy likes a boy or a girl likes another girl and emphasize the concept of love over the idea of sex, it's much more understandable.

Plus teaching could possibly decrease bullying. I think if you could make a child learn early enough to love each other at least on a respect level it wouldn't eliminate bullying but it could possibly take out a chunk of it and decrease suicides in teens. I get that it's a bit of a stretch but I would love to see the LGBTQ community respected more. it will take a lot of work but I do think it's achievable.

SilentWolf101

So, I don't know about in the rest of the world, but here in Colorado (at least in Jefferson County), the LGBT community is huge. I'm almost positive that at least 3/4ths of my school is involved in the community, including me. In Colorado, we made it so that gay people could get married by law, and I think that helps with our acceptance of it. I think that it would also help acceptance if we teach kids about it when they are young, like just starting out in high school, POSSIBLY 8th grade. But that's just my opinion.

alfher1275

Honestly, it makes me furious when parents feel uncomfortable talking to their children about the LGBTQ community. I learned the LGBTQ community at around the age of six, but my parents never talked to me about it because they were against LGBTQ. If there was someone who changed gender, they would call them freaks. If someone young changed gender, they would say that the parents are crazy for letting them turn into a freak. hen I told my mom that gay marriage is legal in all states, she said that it's not good because God didn't design people the same gender to be a couple since they can't get pregnant, also saying that it would be confusing for an adopted child to see their parents the same gender when everybody else has opposite genders. We are a Christian family, although I'm the only one who supports gay rights. They are very religious about that topic, not that I'm against that, but it's a bit much when you can't be friends with someone who is gay, bi, or trans. Certain things have happened in the past and I guess they never thought I would learn about gay relationships, but it had made them set that policy of no friends who are gay because they could influence me to do certain things against my religion. They won't let me be friends with a trans because they just think they are weird in general. It makes me heartbroken to see that they don't see them as normal human beings but just as freaks.

Enough ranting. Sorry about that.

I fully support that children should be educated about it. Some people find out about it on their own, but they turn it out to be a bad thing and go against it. I think this would help them understand. I do agree it wouldn't take away all of the bullyings, but a huge chunk of it. I also agree with the age group it should be taught (8-10).

SilentWolf101

alfher1275 wrote: »

Honestly, it makes me furious when parents feel uncomfortable talking to their children about the LGBTQ community. I learned the LGBTQ community at around the age of six, but my parents never talked to me about it because they were against LGBTQ. If there was someone who changed gender, they would call them freaks. If someone young changed gender, they would say that the parents are crazy for letting them turn into a freak. hen I told my mom that gay marriage is legal in all states, she said that it's not good because God didn't design people the same gender to be a couple since they can't get pregnant, also saying that it would be confusing for an adopted child to see their parents the same gender when everybody else has opposite genders. We are a Christian family, although I'm the only one who supports gay rights. They are very religious about that topic, not that I'm against that, but it's a bit much when you can't be friends with someone who is gay, bi, or trans. Certain things have happened in the past and I guess they never thought I would learn about gay relationships, but it had made them set that policy of no friends who are gay because they could influence me to do certain things against my religion. They won't let me be friends with a trans because they just think they are weird in general. It makes me heartbroken to see that they don't see them as normal human beings but just as freaks.

Enough ranting. Sorry about that.

I fully support that children should be educated about it. Some people find out about it on their own, but they turn it out to be a bad thing and go against it. I think this would help them understand. I do agree it wouldn't take away all of the bullyings, but a huge chunk of it. I also agree with the age group it should be taught (8-10).

I agree completely. My grandpa is the same exact way. Some women can't have babies even if they're with a guy, and some guys are born/made sterile, so does that make them a freak? I don't think so.

dreamerz13

I think it's good, if they teach it properly. However, I'm not sure how much faith I have in them to properly teach that.

A lot of people won't talk to their children about it because they "don't know how", their children "won't understand", they don't want their kids to be "upset". Kids are a lot smarter and than they're given credit for. They also are often more open and accepting and won't be upset by that unless they're taught to be. Kids learn from the adults in their lives for the most part and follow that example (of course there's always exceptions). So I don't think it's a bad thing at all, they should learn it somewhere, and hopefully in a manner that helps them understand and think for themselves before having their thoughts impacted by a parent or whoever.

Even before the start of school there will be kids struggling with their gender identity. I've heard quite a few times about kids indicating that they identify as a different gender basically since they were capable of talking enough to do so at all, even if it was simply to indicate they don't like dresses and long girl hair or short boy hair and boy clothes because that's what they understood at the time. So I really don't think it's too early if they're in school at all. And some of these kids may even have parents identifying as a different gender than what they were born as (though in that case they're probably learning at home, but it may be good for their friends and classmates to learn).

icmnfrsh

I live in a more conservative environment, with lots of people who aren't warm to the idea of LGBT people. According to a recent survey, 70% of people are against implementing same-sex marriage here. We haven't even legalized divorce yet, so I don't think they're going to pass any law that will rock the boat in the near future.

When I was a kid, all I knew about g.ay people was the common flamboyant queen stereotype. When Will and Grace was on the air, I was confused when my sister told me that Will was the g.ay one because he didn't act all flamboyant at all, which is when I learned that not all g.ay men have the same mannerisms. It's not really a thing that adults want to talk to their kids about. If it means less prejudice and stereotyping, I suppose talking to kids about nonconformity to gender roles would be helpful.

Amazingamphy

I read the bigoted comments on that article...

Can someone pass the brain bleach?

Anyway, like a lot of people, I feel kindergarten is a bit early, but overall this is a great step towards a less plum community.

megsteroo

People have different opinions and that's okay with me. If we all thought the same the world would be a very boring place. And it's important that everyone CAN have their own opinions, even if they're in the minority. What you must absolutely never do, is force your opinion on someone else. THAT is wrong.